


Gold and Green

by Charlotte_Lancer



Series: Permanently Unfinished [4]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst and Humor, Brief references to dadt, But They're Not Dead Anymore, Coming Out, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Multi, Not Beta Read, Past Character Death, Slow Burn, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-07-13 18:42:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16023725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charlotte_Lancer/pseuds/Charlotte_Lancer
Summary: John is less than pleased with the name that shows up on his wrist one morning.





	1. Ink Black

**Author's Note:**

> So I was editing my other fic "Golden", where Rodney makes the comment that "At least [Sheppard's] soulmate isn't Todd", at like two in the morning, and, well, this happened...
> 
> This was supposed to be a light, humorous story.
> 
> I'm sorry.

When John woke up to find Todd’s name seemingly tattooed across his wrist in dark ink, he assumed it was some sort of new and irritating prank. When John found that whatever ink was used to write the name didn’t seem to wash off no matter how hard he scrubbed, he figured it would probably be a good idea to visit Carson, and see if a medical grade cleaner would take the letters off his wrist. For now, he slipped on a wristband, and headed down to the cafeteria.

 

When he arrived, the room was in a state of mild chaos, with names being shouted over distances, and golden lights flashing in small bursts. Half of the room’s occupants had stripped off their jackets, while the rest seemed to be just about ready to weld the things to their arms. John could see at least one person who had wrapped bandages around their arm to keep them covered.

 

A quick glance at the un-jacketed half made it clear that he wasn't the only one sporting a new tattoo. Probably not a prank, then.

 

John shoved a vaguely pear-shaped fruit into his pocket before setting off to find Elizabeth.

…………..

John was standing in the hall outside Elizabeth’s office, staring down at his half-eaten pear as he tried to banish the sight from his mind. Elizabeth and Radek naked in her office. Elizabeth straddling Radek on her desk. Radek using office supplies in a way they were never meant to be used. John shuddered at the memory, sure he’d never be able to look at a highlighter the same way ever again.

 

The door opened behind him, letting out a thankfully-clothed Radek, followed by an also-dressed Elizabeth.

 

“Colonel, I have to apologise-" John held up a hand to stop her. He really didn't want to think about it any more.

 

“Let’s just forget it ever happened. Please.” She and Radek both nodded, so John continued, gesturing to the wristband on his arm, “Do either of you have any idea what these names are, or how they got here?”

 

Elizabeth began to explain, and John swore his heart stopped. The more she said, the more John wished the floor would open up under him and swallow him whole.  _ Touch makes matches glow gold. Stargate Command had their origin narrowed down to just a few planets. Soulmate marks. No known mistakes.  _ John felt sick when he heard the last one, and quickly excused himself to his room. How could  _ Todd  _ possibly be his  _ soulmate _ . John would refuse to believe just on principle if Elizabeth hadn't shown him SG-1’s reports, faxed over directly from O’Neill.

 

He just really hoped that whatever had triggered the development of the marks had skipped Todd. The last thing he needed was something else for Todd to hold over his head next time they met.

 

John wasn't sure how he’d gotten saddled with Todd, anyway. Elizabeth and Radek were a match, and according to the reports apparently so were Carter and O’Neill. Yet John couldn't even get someone his own species, let alone someone he actually liked.

 

He tried to consider any upside to the situation, and when he failed, tried to remember if he’d ever met any other Todds who the mark on his skin might hopefully be referring to. He supposed it was possible that he hadn't met the Todd on his wrist yet, but with his luck that didn't seem too likely.

 

One thing was certain, though: no one could find out whose name was on his wrist.


	2. Wrenches and Regrets

By dinner, John had more-or-less successfully convinced himself that this was just a bizarre misunderstanding. Todd was at best an acquaintance, not even really qualifying as a friend in John’s eyes, and John was clearly destined to fall for some innocuous grocery store clerk or mechanic or something who just happened to share the Wraith’s nickname.

 

And there was another point in John’s favor- Todd wasn't even the Wraith’s real name, so there was definitely no chance it was him, right? Right.

………

Wrong. Two days later, Todd had decided to grace them with his unwelcome presence, and by either unfortunate coincidence or Todd’s twisted sense of amusement, John and Todd found themselves in a situation where it was absolutely impossible to avoid accidentally touching each other.

 

John nearly choked when Todd’s hand brushed against his for the first time, the shock that ran through him was so strong. A loud clank signalled that Todd was similarly affected, the wrench John had asked for falling to the floor.

 

When the gold glow died down, Todd spoke, recovering the fallen wrench as he did.

 

“So it is you. I had wondered that when this mark appeared, but it seemed unlikely given the commonality of that name among your people, and your obvious dislike for me.” Todd stated the facts without any hint of emotion in his voice, and John couldn't tell whether Todd was disappointed or not to learn that John was his soulmate.

 

John said nothing, instead focusing on the broken machine in front of him. Except that wouldn’t work for very long: a few more bolts tightened, and the repair would be done.

 

Todd seemed content to let the subject drop for now, but John knew the reprieve wouldn’t last forever. They finished the repair in tense silence, and John practically ran from the room when it was done.

……………………………..

“Your soulmate is Todd?!” Rodney shrieked. His eyebrows were dangerously close to escaping right off of his face if he raised them any higher.

 

John rubbed at his now-ringing ears. “A little louder, McKay, I don’t think they could hear you on Earth.”

 

“Seriously, Sheppard, you have the worst luck of any person I’ve ever seen. I mean, _Todd_ , _really_?”

 

“Ok, fine, then. Who’s your supposed soulmate? Clearly it’s not Colonel Carter.”

 

Rodney rolled his eyes. “I’m so glad the military leader of this expedition is so observant.” Rodney pulled up his sleeve, revealing an overlapping mess of twisted scarring and shining gold letters. “It’s Carson, obviously. I didn’t need a magic tattoo to tell me that.”

 

John must have looked as confused as he felt, because Rodney took pity on him and spoke again. “Did you go blind some time in the last year and a half? Because I don’t know how you didn’t noticed otherwise.” Rodney waved a hand in front of John’s face, which John reluctantly followed. “As soon as we got him back, John. I wasn’t going to waste another second” Rodney’s voice was quieter, strangely calm. John had to look away from the intense expression on Rodney’s face. He glanced down idly, his gaze pausing at his own mark. Clearly, Rodney noticed.

 

“I can’t fathom how you ended up with Todd as your soulmate, and I can’t say I’m particularly happy that he has any more reason to show up here unannounced, but I do know this: if you don’t talk to Todd, and figure this whole thing out, you _will_ end up regretting it someday.” John nodded at the dark expression on Rodney’s face, meeting his eyes as he did.

 

As John left the room, he resolved to find Todd as soon as possible.


	3. The Best Laid Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for possible OOC moments. More ooc than John being soulmates with Todd is already, that is.

It seemed that Todd was very good at being nowhere to be found when John actually _wanted_ to find him. After several unsuccessful attempts to locate the wraith, who clearly was putting all ten thousand years of experience avoiding detection to good use, John gave up and headed for his quarters.

 

The more he thought about it, the less Rodney’s advice seemed applicable to his situation, anyway. John didn’t even particularly like Todd, and if something were to happen to Todd, well, it would be an unfortunate loss of a useful ally, but it certainly wouldn’t upset him like Carson’s death had Rodney.

 

John refused to acknowledge the uneasiness that accompanied the thought of the wraith dying as anything other than professional concern. At least Todd was nominally on their side, even if only because it usually somehow benefitted him also.

 

As he walked past the labs, John started a mental tally of all the reasons pursuing anything with Todd would be a terrible idea, and by the time he had just about reached his quarters, he had a sizable list going. _DADT, different species, different species that wants to eat me, not looking for a relationship, barely get along with Todd on a good day._ As he rounded the last corner, and nearly ran into the wraith in question, he added _not attracted to wraith_ to his list. Todd was standing outside the door to John’s quarters, staring at the door. He looked up when John came into view, meeting John's eyes for what felt much longer than the few seconds it lasted.

 

He waited for Todd to say something, but instead the wraith just paused for a moment before walking past him silently. John briefly considered turning around and going after him, but he knew that if Todd was really determined to avoid him, he had no chance of getting him cornered. Besides, if Todd wanted to find him, he obviously knew where to look.

 

Once he was in his room, John took a moment to wonder how this had become his life.

…….

When John woke up, he pushed the band down his wrist, hoping to find a blank wrist proving that the last few days had been a bizarre dream.

 

It hadn't been a dream the first two tries either, but John was still holding onto one last shred of hope.

 

Since this debacle had started, there had been several more matches found, with Teyla among them. He knew that she trusted the marks, and that trust in the marks was one reason he had refrained from seeking her advice on the matter. He wasn't sure what he exact reaction would be, but he couldn't imagine that she'd be particularly thrilled to hear he was supposedly destined to fall for the enemy.

 

The other reason was that if she knew, it would only be a matter of time before Ronon knew too, and John had a pretty good idea how that one would go.

 

No, for now John would have to stick to talking to Rodney about this. At least the only person he was liable to tell was Carson, and they both knew better than to tell anyone else.

 

Of course, he really had no guarantees that _Todd_ wouldn’t tell someone, but at this point he couldn't do much to prevent that. Not without arousing some suspicion from everyone else, anyway.

 

Resigned, he slid the wristband back into its place over his mark, and sincerely hoped that no one would ask him what name he had gotten. If it came down to it, he could always lie and say his ex-wife’s name had shown up on his wrist; that should satisfy anyone who wanted to know why he insisted on keeping it covered.

……………

He should have known that lying to Teyla would be pointless. She’d inquired about his mark halfway through breakfast, and now John was at a loss on his to get out of this without someone finding out about his match. Teyla had seen straight through him before he'd even finished his attempt at convincing her that he had a fresh, new, “Nancy” tattoo, and though _she_ may have been polite enough not to press, Ronon decidedly _was not_.

 

John glanced at Rodney when Ronon asked again what name he had, silently urging him to do something. Anything that would distract Ronon and Teyla away from the subject of the marks.

 

Nothing.

 

“I really don’t want to talk about it.” He looked at Teyla, silently pleading for her to me this stop. She nodded.

 

“If John does not wish to share his mark with us, we should respect that. Perhaps John’s culture is more private about this type of matter than ours or Rodney’s.”

 

John nodded fervently at her words, and he probably would have gotten away with ending the subject there if Lorne hadn't walked by right then, with sleeves rolled up to bare his wrists to the world. John let his head fall forward in defeat, and slid his still-covered wrist onto the table. They had to find out eventually, so he might as well get it over with now.

 

Was it too late to pretend he had another ex? One who just happened to share a first name with a particularly annoying wraith? Probably.

 

“You're not going to like what you see under there,” said John, gesturing to the wristband with his other hand.

 

Teyla and Ronon exchanged a look, and Teyla spoke again, keeping her voice low enough that the neighboring tables would be unable to hear her;

 

“We do not share your people prejudices, John. We are aware of your military's regulations, but I assure you we would not judge you for having a soulmate who does not fit these… restrictions.”

 

Ronon nodded his agreement with Teyla’s statement, and John couldn't help but feel the tiniest amount of relief. At least he didn't have to worry about their reaction to his match being a male. They'd have about a hundred other reasons to be disappointed in his match, but at this point he'd take what he could get.

 

“That's not exactly what I meant, but thanks. Here goes…” Nervously, he pulled the wristband further up his arm, revealing the gold letters that spelled out Todd’s name.

 

Teyla gasped, and Ronon seemed to freeze. They both stared at his wrist with disbelief. John watched their reactions, and after a few seconds he felt Rodney tug the band back down, covering the name from any stray eyes.

 

Teyla was the first to look away, glancing down at her own gold-lettered wrist before looking back to John. He knew exactly what she was thinking, and he had to stop her before it could go any further.

 

He shook his head. “It’s not like that. It changed colours when he handed me a wrench. There is absolutely nothing going on between me and Todd.”

 

Teyla looked relieved, but Ronon still hadn't met his eyes. Awkward silence was still a better reaction than he’d hoped for, so John wasn't in any rush to push things. John did notice that Ronon looked conflicted, however, so he was prepared for whatever reaction that might come.

 

A quick glance at Rodney told him that Rodney was just as confused by Ronon’s non-reaction as John was, and from the carefully neutral expression on Rodney’s face it seemed like he was trying to hide his lack of surprise at John’s mark.

 

After what seemed like hours of tense silence, Ronon snapped his head up to meet John’s gaze dead on.

 

“I lost my soulmate. You shouldn't.”

 

With that, Ronon stood, slamming his hands onto the table as he did so. He glanced around the cafeteria quickly before storming out. Teyla’s gaze darted between the door Ronon had just exited,and John. After a moment she made her decision, and left to go after Ronon.

 

Now alone at the table with Rodney, John let out a long breath.

 

“That could have gone better,” John said.

  
“It also could have gone a lot worse, John.” Rodney laid a firm hand on John’s shoulder, which John was surprisingly thankful for. “It could have gone _a lot_ worse.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frankly I don't know where this is going any more than you do. This thing is improvised as it goes. :/


End file.
